Robert Cohen

Robert Cohen (15 November 1930 – 2 March 2022) was a French boxer. Cohen was world bantamweight champion from 1954 to 1956. He was managed by Robert (Bobby) Diamond, and Gaston Charles-Raymond. Early life and amateur career Cohen was born in Bône, a port city in French Algeria, on 15 November 1930 to a Sephardi Jewish family in a French territory that would soon suffer from the shadow of the Pro-Nazi Vichy regime. Though the family survived the Holocaust, Cohen's father had little wish for his son to pursue a career in boxing. Robert would sometimes escape the house using the window to watch his older brother Léon earn a living boxing. Entering the French Amateur Championships after winning an Algerian title in 1950, he was beaten in the finals by Jacques Dumesnil. The following year he lost the finals again to Joseph Perez, but caught the attention of European promoter Charles Raymond who offered to manage him. Professional career Cohen, who at 5' 3-1/2", was a short but muscular champion, won the French bantamweight title in November 1953 and the European championship in January 1954. Between September 1951 and May 1954, Cohen won a remarkable 34 of 37 fights, losing only one to Robert Munier in Paris, France, and drawing twice.